//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Strange world // by StringYoyo //------------------------------// It took some time, being in a hospital bed and all, but our protagonist is slowly stirring from his slumber. Sam struggled to open his eyes at first. It was as if he had weights on his eyelids. They were so heavy that he had to strain to at least get one of them to crack open. That was a bit of a mistake as light immediately went straight into his eyes, making him shut tight once again. "Damn." Sam groaned out as his eyes stung from the bright light. Since he could't see for now, he instead focused on hearing what was around him. That was easier said than done since all he could hear were muffled tweets from birds and subtle footsteps from what he could tell was out in a hallway. Nothing really solid yet. As he laid there on a pretty comfortable bed, many thoughts were running through his head. Why was he here? How did he get here in the first place? Just what was going on, and why was this happening to him? So many questions, and yet no answer in sight. All Sam could do was lay there and hope that his answers would eventually come to him somehow. Back with Princess Twilight, she had gathered her friends within the castle to discuss what just happened earlier and who their new guest was. Needless to say, there were a few concerns about the beam in the sky. "So Twilight darling, what exactly have you been able to find?" Rarity, the Element of Generosity, asked. "Nothing so far Rarity." Twilight answered. "It seems like whatever happened earlier today is linked to that new pony in the center of it." "So let's just go over and talk to him then." Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter, spoke up with a big smile and her readied confetti cannon. "Oh no Pinkie." Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, spoke up, albeit a whisper like tone, to Pinkie Pie. "I don't think we should wake him with your cannon. It could give the wrong impression." Pinkie Pie shrugged and fired the cannon anyway into the air, letting the confetti rain down on everypony in the room. "So, back to the topic at hand," Starlight Glimmer spoke up next to get everypony back on track. "What exactly do we know about that beam already?" All eyes were back to Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic, as she sat on her hooves in her chair for a moment. Truth be told, she really had no idea what that all was back there. She didn't know who that pony was or why he was in the epicenter to begin with, nor did she know if this was an attack from someone like Chrysalis or Sombre. In short, Twilight was in the dark. She looked to her friends and saw their concerned faces as they waited for an answer from her. With a sigh, Twilight answered them. "I don't know girls, but I do know that whatever it is, we'll find out more once our new guest wakes up." The other's smiled at her and nodded. This was all well and good for them, but back at the hospital, Sam was finally able to open up his eyes without the heaviness on his eyelids or the stinging from the light. He sat up as best as he could with his hooves and looked around the room. It was pretty normal looking for a hospital for ponies, but still normal nonetheless. Sam saw that his bed was next to a window and the curtains weren't drawn. Shrugging, he decided to see just where was he and if he could remember from those times he saw Maya and Jason watching the show. Sam grabbed the curtain closes to him with his teeth and drew them back to see that he was on the second floor of the hospital. He looked out and saw that he was in main town from the show. "Oh man. What was this place called?" He said to himself as he tried to remember. His musing was cut short when one of the nurses came into the room and saw him sitting up. "Oh good, you're awake." She said to him in a cheerful tone. This got Sam's attention as he turned to her. "You must be hungry from what we were able to find out about you when Princess Twilight brought you in." Sam remembered that name and also remembered seeing her just before he passed out. "I'll get you some food and inform her that you're awake." "Uh, excuse me, miss." Sam spoke rather quickly to get her attention. When she turned around, Sam asked her a few questions. "Where exactly am I?" "In the hospital." She answered in a matter of fact tone that caused Sam to have a tick mark over his forehead. "No no, I meant this town." Sam spoke up once again. "Oh." She did in a rather sarcastic way. "This is Ponyville." Sam swallowed the lump in his throat at that answer. Okay, that was one question down so far. "And how did I end up here?" "Well, I really don't know how your ended up in the center of that beam," the nurse continued in a semi-serious tone. "But I do know that Princess Twilight brought you here and told us to inform her when you woke up. She'll have some questions for you real soon." And with that, the nurse left to attend to her duties, leaving Sam to wonder just how in the hell did he go from human city in the real world to suddenly hanging out with talking ponies. Hopefully when this Twilight gets here she can shed some light on all of this. Back at the castle library, Twilight and her friends were steadily trying to figure out what happened earlier with that pony. They still came up with nothing, but hopefully some good news would come to them soon. "Twilight." As if on cue, Spike came into the room in a sprint towards the girls. Once there, he took a few deep breaths. "What's wrong Spike?" She started, hoping that nothing bad has happened. "That pony you sent to the hospital just woke up." Spike answered her. "Well alright." Rainbow Dash spoke out as she started hovering above the table/map. "Lets go see what this guy knows already." "Maybe even throw him a party. Hehe." Pinkie spoke up in an excited tone as she started bouncing around. "Well Twi', I reckon we go an see just what this pony knows." Applejack stood from her seat along with Rarity and Fluttershy. "Agreed." Twilight also stood from her chair. "Lets go and see just who this pony is and what he knows." And with that said, all seven ponies and Spike left the castle/library to open a new chapter to their lives.